applying twice?

[Guest uwoheather]

hi everyone,

 

i have heard a bunch of people speculate that medical schools have an unwritten bias against those whose first time it is applying. they supposedly prefer students who have applied more than once. are there any grounds to this rumour? i kind of feel discouraged now

thanks again

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I think that's completely untrue. So are any rumours about bias against student who have applied more than once, as is the rumour that there is no such thing as a "medical school," it's just a concept OMSAS and the universities made up to scam money from people (ok, that last rumour is one I made up.)

 

The people from my class come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some applied once. Some twice. Others, a gazillion times. I don't think any of them suffered bias in their applications.

[Guest gucio93]

I agree with UWOMED2005. Lot's of people get in on their first try - I was one of the lucky ones .

[Guest MayFlower1]

I agree with gucio93 and UWOMED2005...and I disagree with them (although they are in med school and I'm still not )

 

I don't believe there is a systematic bias against or for people who have applied once or more than once...I do believe, however, that chances of getting an acceptance are higher for people who have applied more than once. Why? I believe that people who have been through more than once have had more time to think about why they want medicine...they also know the "system" a bit better and know what the adcoms are potentially looking for (i.e., positives and negatives).

 

That being said, I've never seen any objective evidence one way or another...it would be interesting to conduct a quantitative study on this very question.

 

Peter

[Guest uwoheather]

thanks everyone,

you guys are awesome!!!

[Guest macMDstudent]

The record I heard was from a friend of mine who is involved in training residents and was interviewing MD final year students for residency positions. It came out during one interview that the person that had applied to med school 14 years in a row before being accepted. Now that is dedication.

 

It seems many people take more than one try for exactly the reasons Mayflower1 gave. But whether you were accepted first try, second or third try or more; or got in off the waiting list; it has little to do with your performance once you are in the program, from what I've seen.

[Guest j282]

I got in on my first try, and I really don't think med schools remember applicants (remember they see thousands)

 

I agree with the above post that how you get in really has no bearing on how you will perform in the program. A person who got in after 4 th try off a waitlist may actually perform worse than one who got accepted right off the bat, perhaps that's why it took them so many tries, who knows. So don't sweat it, you have a great chance after your first shot

[Guest macdreams]

A person who got in after 4 th try off a waitlist may actually perform worse than one who got accepted right off the bat, perhaps that's why it took them so many tries, who knows.

 

That's one way to look at it. I prefer to think that the 4 or 14 tries person was unlucky/slightly underprepared the first few times. Someone with that sort of peristence has got to make a good student. :lol Just my thoughts...

[Guest macMDstudent]

What do you call the person who finishes last in their class at med school?

 

Answer: Doctor.

 

This old joke doesn't really hold at Mac though, because there is no grades to rank people in the class. We are evaluated as Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. There is also a Provisional Satisfactory grade that means you need remedial work but will be allowed to continue.

 

I know of a case where a fellow was accepted off the waiting list on his 2nd or 3rd try applying, ended up being the valedictorian and gold medalist of his class (Queen's) and had every specialty fighting over him to get in their program for residency. Similarly if you got accepted first try there is no red carpet for you to the graduation ceremony. Once you are in med school, it is up to you what you do and how hard you want to work. There is no "resting on your laurels" once you're in.

 

How you got accepted plays no role in (from what I understand) in CaRMS matching. Its what you do in the MD program that matters. Because don't forget, getting into med school is one thing, but which residency you get into determines what you'll be doing the rest of your life. And that is another whole process to apply to and hope to be accepted to that there are no guarantees for. Not getting matched after 3 or 4 years of supreme effort must be heartbreaking.